Always Have, Always Will
by elizabeth03
Summary: Troy & Kaci have always been the perfect couple, until Troy moves to East High, and meets Gabriella. Will Troy be able to keep his promises to Kaci, or will his new friendship get in the way?
1. Better Together

**Author's Note- **Hi everyone, this is my first time writing fanfiction about High School Musical. This first chapter goes a little slow because I wanted to set the background of the story for y'all. Please review and let me know what you think : ) Thanks so much for reading!!

"But Troy, you can't leave now! We had our whole summer planned before your senior year starts in the fall. And what about everything we had to look forward to in this school year? Can't you just stay here with your grandparents until you graduate in May?"

Troy Bolton didn't have the heart to look at his girlfriend of three years face, for this was an argument they repeatedly had for the past two months ever since his parents told him that he was moving to New Mexico to finish his senior year of high school before he went off to college the following year. Although it tore him up inside to see Kaci so upset, he knew he had to be mature about the situation, seeing as that he had no choice and it would all be over when left Los Angeles for good the next day.

"I'm really sorry babe, you know I am… and you know I don't want to leave you. But there is nothing I can do about it. You know how sick my mom's father is, and she wants to be with him. It really sucks that I have to leave you and all the guys now, but I can come back and visit over my breaks and stuff. And you can come watch my games! You know I'll always love you and that we'll keep in touch until you graduate in two years and join me at USC right…"

The young couple gripped at each other as they sat in the back of Troy's black Jeep, at their favorite spot on the edge of their local beach. Troy knew that he had to be there for Kaci, as he had been their whole lives, since their parents had introduced them at the ages of four and three. They grew up living next to each other and inevitably became inseparable through their adolescence.

"But what about my cheerleading competitions? You haven't missed one yet. Who am I going to call in the middle of the night if I can't sleep? I was ready for you to leave to go to college because I know I'll be there a year after you, but I can't go through the last two years of high school without you Troy… this is so unfair!"

Kaci started slightly shivering as the sun had long gone down and she was still in her embellished tank top and tiny plaid shorts from working at Abercrombie and Fitch all day until Troy had picked her up so they could have their final night together. She had tied up her long blonde hair into a knot on the top of her head so it wouldn't blow in the cool breeze that had approached the stretch of sand they were parked on, but her bright blue eyes had not stopped crying since the second her boyfriend had come into her work at the end of her shift to say goodbye to all of her co-workers, since they had become pretty good friends since he routinely visited her on his own breaks from working at J. Crew and often dropped her off and picked her up.

'Another change that I'll have to get used to', she glumly thought. Through their three year relationship, that began during his freshman year at Seven Lakes High School while she was in the eighth grade at their local middle school, they had become accustom to many routines. Whether it was their Sunday breakfasts together with their parents at the town diner after church, or how they would meet up after second, fourth, and sixth periods at the locker they shared just for a small kiss before they went their separate ways to class, or in their favorite winter season when she and the rest of her cheerleading team would yell and scream for Troy's championship winning team every Tuesday and Friday nights, silently communicating through a tug of the ear to say I love you frequently through the games.

Troy, noticing her rapidly approaching goose bumps, wrapped his white and red North Face around her that she had gotten him last Christmas. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer not to break down himself as he saw the streams of tears continue down her cheeks. He knew that they were in every aspect the perfect couple, but he knew what he had to do. He had seen his cousin and his girlfriend attempt a long distance relationship when they had both went off to college the year before, which ended terribly, forcing him to promise himself he would never be involved in something like that. No matter how many times he explained to Kaci that if they were meant to be, they would meet up in two years when she graduated high school and they would pick up where they left off, he couldn't help but have a hard time doubting his decision as he held his tiny girlfriend in his strong arms, often placing soft kisses on her bronzed shoulder.

"Listen baby; let's not make this any harder than it has to be okay? You heard my parents last week; they said that we'll be back here at Christmas to see everyone again!"

"Oh great… six months until I can see you again!," Kaci sarcastically said as her eyes rolled, "will your new girlfriend be accompanying you as well?"

Troy's hands froze in their place of rubbing her arms to turn her around so he could look at her in the eyes.

"How could you even say that?," his own blue eyes searching hers to try to make sense of her previous comment, "do you have ANY idea how hard this is for me Kace? Not only am I leaving you, but I'm leaving the guys, my team, the only place I've ever lived for the last eighteen years. Could you stop thinking about yourself for a second and think about what I'm going through right now?"

Troy and Kaci rarely fought, but their emotions were running so high in the past couple weeks that they had found themselves bickering back and forth over childish matters.

"You're right… I'm sorry babe, I'm being selfish," Kaci, who was now turned around in Troy's arms curled up against his chest with her legs wrapped around his torso, "it's just that I'm going to miss you a lot, you're all I've known."

The two remained in that position in the back of Troy's car, losing track of time just staring into each other's eyes, studying each other's faces and mannerisms since it would be a long time until they were able to see each other again.

At around 2am, Kaci's phone went off with a text message from her older brother Kyle- _**'Where are you? Mom and Dad want you home in a half hour, you have practice tomorrow morning."**_

"No, I'm not going home. I'm staying with you until you leave in the morning. I don't care about practice, I can tumble fine I just need to stay with you," Kaci stubbornly said, trying to burrow farther and farther into her boyfriend's strong chest.

"Come on babe, it's getting late and my family is taking the first flight out in the morning to New Mexico to meet the moving trucks that left yesterday," Troy mumbled, as the pit in his stomach grew larger and larger as their final goodbye was approaching.

He jumped out of the back of the trunk and held his arms out for his petite girlfriend to jump into as he helped her out of the car. As they embraced at their favorite place, where they had spent many beach days, and also where they came every anniversary since it was where he had first asked her to be his girlfriend, their cold bodies were instantly warmed up by the love in each other's touch.

Troy pulled back to look her in the eyes, and softly said, "I love you Kaci Anne Cooper. Always have, always will."

Kaci was crying too hard to answer him, as she just nodded and pressed her lightly glossed lips to his under the bright moonlight shining off the water in the distance.

They put all their pent up frustrations with the situation they were dealt as they dove farther and farther into the kiss. Kaci's hands found their way into his sandy blonde hair as they always had, as Troy pulled her closer with his large hands on her tiny hips, rubbing their pelvises up against one another as he tilted his head and deepened their kiss. Kaci slightly opened her mouth to allow Troy to slip his tongue in, which still tasted like the peanut butter milkshake they had shared as they left the mall earlier that evening, another tradition they had become accustomed to.

Sensing that they were headed somewhere that they shouldn't be, seeing that it was late and they had already said their proper sexual goodbyes the night before in the hotel room Troy had rented for them, Troy pulled back, littering her face with tiny, sweet kisses, and took her hand to the passenger side of his Jeep where he continued to open the door for her and kiss her temple before he shut it to walk over to his own side.

Kaci curled up into Troy's North Face, that was almost down to her knees since Troy's frame was much bigger than her own, letting the comfort of his Abercrombie 'Fierce' cologne surround and comfort her as she pulled her knees to her chest and waited for Troy start the engine and slowly pull away from the beach.

Their hands found each other and Troy rested their union on his leg as he softly sang to her a song on the Jack Johnson CD she had made for him long ago.

'_There's no combination of words I could write on the back of a postcard, no song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart…'_

Troy's car took the left out of the beach and followed the quiet road to the gated community where they both lived, three houses apart from each other since they both had moved in their respective houses almost fifteen years ago.

'_Our dreams and they are made out of real things, like a shoebox of photographs with sepia-toned loving…'_

Slowly the Jeep made its way through their town, seeming to be the only car on the road on that sad Sunday night. Together the passed the movie theatre where they regularly caught matinees, most recently when Kaci had dragged a reluctant yet eager Troy to see Shrek 3.

'_Love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart, like why are we here? And where do we go? And how come it's so hard?'_

They silently drove through the green stoplights in the center of the town, passing by the park where they often went after school to lay out on a blanket and do their homework together. A little while down on the right their heads both turned simultaneously to smile at the Italian restaurant where they had gone a few times to share a brick-oven pizza and piece of cheesecake, and then across the street on the left, the candy store where Kaci went before every one of Troy's games to get him basketball-shaped truffles in all different flavors which she left in his locker with a little 'good luck' note.

"_It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving, I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together…"_

As they made the left hand turn into their development, and Troy gave a small wave and smile to the man who was working at the front gate that night, Kaci softly spoke up, her voice sounding hollow and hoarse after spending the last eight weeks crying over what changes the next day would bring in both of their lives.

"Are you excited for your Senior prom this year?," she asked sadly, as she was so looking forward to going to the Seven Lakes Senior prom with her boyfriend, which obviously wouldn't be happening anymore.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that," Troy began, as he pulled his car into her driveway and gently turned off the engine, before turning around in his seat and reaching for something in his Nike backpack behind his seat, "I know that we were both really excited to go to prom together this year, but since I won't be here to go, I was thinking maybe you would like to come to mine at East High?"

Troy found what he was looking for and turned around in his seat to face his girlfriend, whose long blonde hair had escaped out of the elastic she had tied it up in and was now framing her face with gentle layers all the way down to the middle of her back. He looked deep into her red rimmed eyes as he presented her with a small, blue, robin-egg's blue box, neatly tied with a white bow.

"You really mean you want me to come to prom with you?!," Kaci exclaimed, not noticing the Tiffany's box he had in his hand, just so excited that she would be able to go to prom with him after all, no matter what state it was in.

"Of course baby, I wouldn't want it any other way. I thought that this could maybe be a symbol of my promise that you'll come with me… and a promise that we'll always be in each other's hearts… and a promise that in two years we can pick up right where we left off at USC…," Troy began with a wavering voice, as he slowly opened up the box to reveal a white gold ring with a tiny diamond, Kaci's birthstone, in the middle.

"Oh my god Troy. That is beautiful," Kaci wept, as he softly kissed her on the lips and slid the ring onto her right hand's ring finger. "I promise too…"

While Kaci admired her ring, Troy got out of the car and opened her door, pulling her into what would be their last hug before he left the next morning for his new life. They held and rocked each other for ten minutes in her driveway as they cried into each other's arms, not noticing the rain that was lightly falling on them, almost as if God was crying along with them.

Troy pulled back and gently kissed her lips for the last time, willing himself to remember her sweet taste, and the electricity between them every time their lips touched. He leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, trying to soak up the last moments he had with her. Tears flowed freely from the corners of their matching blue eyes as they both gained the courage to let go of one another.

"I love you, Troy Bolton. Always have, always will," Kaci quietly said, as she absently mindedly rubbed her promise ring and opened her eyes to see his own staring intently into hers.

"I love you too Kaci Cooper, always have always will," Troy whispered back, before kissing her on the lips for the last time before she began to walk away, their hands gripping each other's before they finally had to let go. He watched 

as she retreated up her driveway and slipped into the large pale green door of her immaculate white house, and then he slowly walked back into his car and drove down two houses until he reached his own house.

Sadly, he grabbed his backpack out of the backseat, locked up his car, and walked around the back of the house to let himself into the sliding glass doors of the kitchen, throwing his bag on the kitchen island next to him as he grabbed a water bottle out of the sub zero refrigerator and turned on the television on the granite counter top across the room to check the scores on ESPN of his favorite teams.

The TV seemed to blare throughout his large house, perhaps echoing because it was almost empty; all of their belongings had pretty much already left to go to their new house in New Mexico, leaving them with only the bare necessities.

When he had had enough of the annoying sportscasters, he noticed that it was nearing 4am so he clicked off the TV to make his way upstairs for his last time to sleep in his room that he had since he was four. He dragged his backpack off of the island, finding that he was more tired than he had originally thought. He heard a small 'thud' hit the ground from where he had taken his bag off the table and he turned around to see a small box laying on the ground with a note attached.

He opened up the box first, finding heart shaped truffles from his favorite candy store, all different shapes, sizes, and colors. He softly smiled and ripped open the card, which featured a black and white picture of two younger kids holding hands and smiling at each other. On the inside, in her neat, cursive, handwriting, he began to weep reading her delicate message:

"_**My Troy, you are going to make me so proud at your new school. I will never forget you, and what we had. You are my everything, and I love you to the moon and back. Always have, always will. Kaci"**_

_Troy slid down the wall until he felt himself hit the cool kitchen floor, gripping the box of chocolates and the note, staring at the picture on the front of the card, which was of them, the first day they had met each other in their local park. _

_And after leaning his head against the wall, Troy closed his eyes and cried himself to sleep. _


	2. Shattered

**Author's Note**- AH! I'm re-posting this because I just realized I never corrected the lyrics on it! I wrote this while I was on a plane so I couldn't double check the lyrics on the internet- So sorry!! Next chapter will be up by the end of the weekend, please review this one too : )

_Four months later, at East High…_

Troy jumped out of his Jeep, grabbed his brown leather Nike backpack, and slammed the door behind him as he walked towards the large stone school in front of him. He slightly smiled as he noticed the warm October sun shining down on him as he straightened his coral J. Crew polo shirt and fashionably tucked it into the front of his dark washed jeans. He shrugged on his backpack and followed the sidewalk path out of the senior parking lot at East High that continued towards the main courtyard filled with his fellow classmates, some he knew by face, some he knew by name, and some he just had no idea who they were considering he had only been attending the school for a little over a month.

As he smiled at some of the kids he recognized from his various classes, and high-fived a few members of the basketball team he saw along the way, he glanced down at his feet through his aviator sunglasses and was struck with a wave of nostalgia as his eyes noticed his dark brown Rainbow sandals.

It was the usual feeling that struck him several times a day, happening ever since he left California. It was the feeling he would get when he woke up in the morning and rolled over to stare at the picture on his night stand, and the one he would get after he had his favorite breakfast every morning of precisely three egg whites, two pieces of whole wheat toast with peanut butter, and a large glass of milk. It would hit him when he was driving in his Jeep and kept his hand on the center console, rather than intertwined with his usual passenger in the front seat, or when a special song came on the radio. Yes, he felt it when he went shopping at the mall by himself because he was without his "designated personal shopper" as she had liked to call herself, and when he stopped for his routine smoothie mid-afternoon and had to catch himself from ordering two.

He felt it when his daily work-outs were cut down from two hours to one because he was no longer texting between his lifting sets, or visiting the cardio machine area to goof around on the treadmill next to someone. Troy experienced it when he was eating dinner with his parents at night and the table was only set for three, and again at night when he was in bed going to sleep at a decent hour because he was no longer on the phone through all hours of the night.

All those feelings that stirred inside Troy Bolton, were mirrored at the moment while he walked up to his high school thinking of the girl who bought him those Rainbow sandals once as a Christmas present, the one who never failed to be on his mind, especially since his move to New Mexico.

Although he constantly had the urge to whip out his cell phone and call or text her a sweet message to see how she was, or better yet drive the ten hours to show up at her door step, he knew that he couldn't. In the four weeks after Troy had moved, the once-couple had kept in constant contact: cell phones, e-mails, snail mail, flowers, care packages… you name it, they did it. They weren't a couple (and were having a very hard time adjusting to it) but it eased their souls to hear from each other at all hours of the day. Until three months ago.

They had chosen to not try a long distance relationship, knowing it would be too hard and torturing on their hearts. But no matter what they did, they knew they wouldn't be able to carry on acting like they were with each other but not actually being with one another. So they stopped talking. Just like that.

While Kaci and her family were on their annual vacation to Los Cabos in Mexico, Troy decided his heart couldn't take it anymore, and wrote her his last letter. Since she didn't receive cell phone service south of the border, he used the week she was gone to prep himself for his life to come. He sent her a simple text that she would receive when she landed at LAX in California when she got home, instructing her to read his letter and that he was sorry. She had obeyed his pleas that he had written to stop the communication because it was too hard for him, and allowed her anger with his selfish self to fuel her to begin to move on. Sure she was upset, but she kept telling herself that she 

would never want to be with someone that wasn't man enough to even be able to talk to her.

So for the last three months, they had gone on living their lives…separately…trying to pretend that the other wasn't constantly on their mind. Their rooms remained the same, littered with pictures, mementoes, and other reminders of the other, serving as a comfort at the end of another long day of not talking to the one they wished they could the most.

Troy was surprised to find that he was so deep in his thoughts that he had ended up at his homeroom classroom before he had even looked up. He checked his Fossil watch (another present and reminder of Kaci) and saw that he was just in time for class. Taking off his aviators and clipping them on to the front of his shirt, shaking his shaggy bangs out of his eyes, and popping in a piece of his favorite gum, he walked into class to his new group of friends with a big smile on… covering up the pain and lost feeling that rocked him to his core.

"BOLTON! What's up fool, nice of you to notice us this morning," Chad, the captain of the East High basketball team and Troy's closest friend since moving to town, called out to him from his seat in the second row, "you walked by all of us in such a trance this morning I thought you were still pissed at me for beating you in one-on-one last night!"

"You wish you beat me," Troy chuckled as he sat in his assigned seat in front of Chad in the front row, smiling at Martha as he placed his backpack under his chair and turned around to talk to the rest of the group before their drama teacher, Ms. Darbus, arrived.

As Troy, Chad, and two other players on their basketball team that were in the class, Zeke and Jason, discussed plays for their fall ball basketball league game that was later on that night, Troy noticed out of the corner of his eye a familiar blonde and brunette enter the classroom, giggling to each other as they slid into the their seats diagonal from Troy's.

"Hey Troy, lookin' good today as always", Sharpay Evans cooed, as she reached inside her Prada bag and took out her matching pink pen and notebook, always eager to impress Ms. Darbus and clinch her lead role in the winter musical.

Although Troy had known Sharpay for about a month now and knew what kind of antics she was up to, he still couldn't stop himself from blushing.

"Oh stop it girl, look you're embarrassing him!"

Troy turned to softly smile at Sharpay's brown eyed best friend who was sitting behind her. She threw her long curly brown hair over her shoulder and busied herself arranging the multicolor bangles that adorned her wrists. She then went on to gently apply her baby pink lipstick before looking back up at Troy and winking at him. Troy wasn't taken aback, for Gabriella, or Gabi as the friends in their group called her, had been dropping hints towards wanting something more than a homeroom friendship with him since the second week of school.

"Hey Gabi, how was your weekend?" Troy kindly asked, grateful for her interruption with the ever-brazen Sharpay. He had quickly learned the Sharpay was a very outgoing girl, and even though she made frequent flirty comments to him, he knew she was only kidding around since she had been quietly hooking up with Zeke since the beginning of summer.

"It was pretty good, you know made the rounds at a couple parties and did some shopping… the usual. But my question is where were YOU Mr. Bolton? You have yet to hit the East High party circuit, c'mon boys I thought you said he was cool…" she lightly teased as she thumbed through her Blackberry, checking the latest gossip websites before class officially began.

"He is cool Gabs and does come out with us; maybe he just doesn't want to be around you!" Chad laughed and leaned over to kiss his girlfriend Taylor on the cheek as she had just walked in and was busy organizing her day planner with the thousand activities she was going to partake in that day.

The group's conversation was cut short as Ms. Darbus breezed through the doorway and began lecturing the class about different aspects of theatre in her bravado voice. Troy had never been one for plays or anything of the sort, the only one he had ever attended was when his family and Kaci had gone to New York two years previous and saw Rent on Broadway.

Troy zoned out as he pretended to listen to the obnoxious teacher's lecture and found himself lost in a daydream about the weekend he had spent in New York City with Kaci. His parents had to attend a medical conference at the Trump Plaza and had allowed him to bring company to occupy him during the day while they were busy. The young couple had spent the weekend vacation exploring the city and taking in all that it had to offer. It had been December and he vividly recalled holding Kaci's hand as they ice-skated under the large Christmas tree, looking in store windows at the colorful displays, and buying her an early holiday present at Burberry, her favorite designer.

As Troy was wrapped up in his daydream and the rest of the class tried their hardest to tune out the woman they all thought was insane, Gabriella turned in her seat and motioned to Chad to look at his cell phone.

Rolling his eyes, Chad pulled out his Chocolate and slid it open to read the waiting text message- _**"What's Troy's number?"**_

Chad looked ahead at the back of Troy's head, in almost a silent question to his new friend if he should give it to the interested girl next to him. Usually he would have jumped at the chance to give out a friend's number to a girl, and a pretty one at that, but after spending the last couple weekends with Troy and hearing bits and pieces of what he left behind in California, he wasn't too sure that his friend was ready to be subjected to the world of Gabriella Montez.

It wasn't that Gabriella was a mean girl, or classified as a 'slut' in any degree, it was just that Chad felt a little wary giving her access to his new friend when he had seen her attach on to boys and had a habit of consuming every aspect of their lives. Until she would chew them up, spit them out, and then repeat.

As Chad was thinking about the impending question and pretending to listen to the lecture on the usefulness of props on a stage to fend of Gabi until he could decide, he felt his phone vibrate in his hand again- _**"C'mon Chad I just want to be try to be his friend… he's new here after all."**_

Chad's phone was a little louder than he remember, and the last text had caused Troy to break out of his daydream and curiously turn around, as his Taylor simultaneously whipped her head and shot him a nasty look for interrupting her listening to Ms. Darbus. Quickly Chad typed back_**"245 234 4882" **_and slid his phone shut and back into his pocket. He smiled apologetically at his girlfriend, nodded at Troy that everything was alright, and then dozed off for the rest of the period.

Homeroom ended within the hour, and the group of friends quickly dispersed towards their remaining classes of the day; the boys gaining momentum for their game that night with each minute that passed, the girls excited to go home and lay out next to Sharpay's pool in the beautiful fall sun.

At the end of the day, Troy knelt in front of his locker stuffing his binders and books that he needed for homework that night into his backpack. He shoved his iPod into his pocket and weaved the earphones up through his shirt into his ears as he always did at the end of the day. He turned the dial until he found the song he wanted to listen to, a song off of his 'Kaci Playlist', slung his backpack on his back, slid on his sunglasses, and began the quick walk to his car waving and smiling at different friends along the way.

As the beginning notes of the song began to flow into his ears, he turned down the hallway towards the front lobby, powering on his cell phone as he walked.

'_In a way, need a change, from this burn out scene, another time, another town, another everything, but it's always back to you…'_

Troy's Voyager beeped signaling he had a new voicemail as well as a new text message. As always, he got his hopes up that Kaci had finally decided to 

ignore what he asked her to do and tried to contact him, but he was disappointed when he heard his mom's voice ring through the ear piece telling him herself and his father would be going out to dinner that night and good luck on his basketball game.

' _Stumbled out, in the night, from the pouring rain, made the block, sat and thought, there's more I need, it's always back to you…'_

Troy ended the call and expertly navigated his way through the touch screen to open up his new message- and was again upset that it wasn't from the contact 'Babe' in his cell phone; instead it was from a number he didn't recognize.

'_But I'm good without you, yeah I'm good without you, yeah… How many times can I break 'till I shatter? Over the line, can't define what I'm after, I always, turn the car around…'_

"_**Sharpay was right- you were looking good today. Ice cream tonight? On me : ) xo Gabi"**_

'_Give me a break, let me make my own pattern. All that it takes is some time but I'm shattered. I always turn the car around.'_

Surprised by the text and not quite sure what to make of it, Troy bound down the regal steps of East High headed towards the Senior parking lot, finding his trusty Jeep in the second row as always. He threw his backpack into the back seat and quickly started the engine and rolled down the windows to cool down his steaming car.

'_I had no idea that the night would take so damn long. Took it out on the street, while the rain still falls, push me back to you.'_

He carefully backed up into the waiting row of cars, waved as a 'thank-you' for Zeke letting him cut in front of him, and drove towards the exit of the parking 

lot. He found himself full of emotions as he contemplated how to answer Gabriella's message, the familiar pit of his stomach returning from earlier in the day. He found himself typing back, _**'I'm busy, sorry' **_but before he could press send something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

'_But I'm good without you, yeah I'm good without you…'_

He couldn't hear anything because of the volume on his iPod, but he noticed Gabriella leaning against her black BMW X5 waving at him as she made plans for the rest of the afternoon with her girlfriends. Shyly he waved back, noticing how perfectly the fall sunshine bounced off of her glossy hair, how her smile was stretched as the day is long revealing her white teeth, and how her brown eyes shone with excitement. She playfully winked at him and then turned her attention back to the girls in front of her, playing with her brown leather belt that was cinched around her tiny waist.

'_How many times can I break 'till I shatter? Over the line, can't define what I'm after… I always turn the car around…'_

Troy looked both ways and made the left out of the parking lot onto the main road, driving towards his house. He was shocked that as he looked at his reflection in the rearview mirror that he was smiling. Knowing that it was the first time in almost four months that he felt some sort of happiness, he looked down at his cell phone and erased what he had previously written and quickly typed- _**"Basketball game at 7. Meet after?"**_

'_I gotta turn this thing around…'_


	3. Broken

**Author's Note-** Hi all! I hope you're enjoying the story so far- it's be so exciting seeing how many hits & visitors it's getting : ) Please let me know what you think and review… it really does make my day! I'm working really hard on this story so I hope you are able to get into it. ALSO- if you have a chance & are looking for good stories to read, read any of the stories by "troypazash"; she is an awesome writer and has amazing plot lines : ). Thanks so much for reading y'all! REVIEW!

It had been two weeks since Troy and Gabriella's ice cream and basketball date, and they had been inseparable ever since. In just fourteen short days, they had fallen into a rhythmic routine that rivaled that of Chad and Taylor's, who had been dating for three years. It began with Troy picking up Gabriella in the morning, and stopping to get their identical hazelnut lattes and onion bagels at the local deli. From there they would go to school, holding hands on the way to ever class, and texting every minute they weren't attached at the hip. They sat next to each other at lunch, met at the water fountains during classes they didn't have together, and happily walked with one another to their afterschool practices.

East High automatically figured that they were the hot new couple of the Senior class. Good looking, basketball jock, new guy dating the beautiful cheerleading captain? Not one person gave it another thought. Except for Troy.

While he knew he liked Gabriella, and had a great time hanging out with her, there was always something, more specifically someone, in the back of his mind that made him feel so incredibly guilty. Kaci and Troy still hadn't talked since they decided it would be easier on them to move on from their relationship of the past.

Troy always had so much fun when he was with Gabriella, and in the short span of time that he knew her they had gotten to know one another really well. He knew that her favorite perfume was "Daisy" by Marc Jacobs, and that she hated chocolate ice cream. He knew that she hated being interrupted in the middle of a story and loved macaroni and cheese. Troy had even met her parents the weekend before over dinner in the Montez's dining room, and he knew that they accepted him immediately.

But while Gabriella fully opened her life to Troy, including him in her circle of friends, house, and daily life, Troy had not reciprocated with as equally, which eventually lead to their first fight.

"Troy, let's go to your house tonight to do our Chemistry project together okay! I'll come by around 8", Gabriella said with a smile, as she squeezed his hand during their routine walk to the gym for their respective basketball and cheerleading practices.

"Erm, really? But my house isn't unpacked yet. Can't we just go to your house? Besides, I really want to try some more of your mom's brownies!", Troy replied with a small smile, keeping his eyes straight ahead, as he internally vowed to dodge yet another uncomfortable situation on this subject.

It wasn't that Troy was ashamed of Gabriella. He loved how easily they got together, and even though there wasn't a title to describe them, he knew they both were on the same level of understanding of where they stood. But as simple as it was to hold someone's hand all day and fall asleep on the phone with them at night, it took it to a completely different step to let them in their private, personal life. In his mind, he kept telling himself that the second he let Gabriella come into his house, meet his parents, play with his dog, it would be like Kaci's spot had been filled. A spot that she held for almost their entire lives. They hadn't talked in over five months, but she was with him every waking thought he had.

But as determined as Troy was to keep these two parts of his life separate and sacred to him in special ways, he knew that his healing process would only move on if he conquered his fears and let the brown eyed girl in front of him into his life.

"Troy you've lived in that house for almost four months now, what's going on? I thought it would be nice if I could meet your parents since you met mine last week…" Gabriella trailed off as she fidgeted with the bag on her shoulder, catching drift of Troy's unsure demeanor, worried about what it meant. She was never one to push someone into something they didn't want to do, but after listening to Sharpay for four hours the night before going on and on that he MUST be hiding something from her, she got a little nervous. Gabriella Montez had quite the track record at East High with guys, and was notorious for not having the most stable relationships. While this was something she struggled with everyday, she was reveling in her newfound trust in Troy, and hoping that maybe he could be the one to turn it all around.

"You know what babe, you're right. I'll call my mom and let her know to make enough for one more!" Troy said enthusiastically, as he pulled her into a tight hug. He needed to make changes, and he was going to start now, he silently promised himself in his head, as he held the tiny, yet excited girl in his arms.

They stood like that in the hall for a couple minutes, going over the plans for that night and what they would need to pick up for their Chemistry project. As they were beginning to say goodbye, Troy's cell phone vibrated signaling a new text message, from the bottom of his bag that was pressed against Gabriella's side due to their embrace.

Gabriella wasn't the invasive type, she liked to keep to herself and respect others privacy. But still reeling from Sharpay's harsh words earlier, she decided she needed to take matters into her own hands and make sure she wasn't about to get her heart broken again.

"Oh Troy, Chad's down there waving you over with your dad! Here, I'll hold on to your bag if you want to run over there real quick?" Gabriella said with a sweet smile, as she grabbed his bag out of his grip and pushed him down the hallway.

"Oh…okay, thanks Gab!" Troy answered, confused where her sudden change in demeanor went, but jogged down the hallway to see what Chad and his father wanted.

Acting as quickly as possible, Gabriella ran into the nearest classroom, slammed the door behind her, and rifled through Troy's Nike backpack until she found his black Voyager. Pressing the correct buttons until she found her way into his mailbox, she opened the message from a name she had never heard before- _**Kaci.**_

"_**Hey Troy, I know we haven't talked since you left, but I have been thinking about you a lot, everyday. My family is coming up for Thanksgiving in two weeks, I was hoping we could talk about things? I really miss you…"**_

Without a second thought, Gabriella erased the message from Troy's inbox as quickly as she had read it, threw the phone back in the bag, and ran back out into the hallway before Troy returned. Even more determined to win Troy over, and find out who this Kaci girl was, Gabriella put on her biggest smile and whipped out her own phone, _**"Sharpay, you were right. He has a girl back in California. My house tomorrow after school, I'm going to need to step up my game. I like him too much for him to be another Dave."**_

Kaci sighed as she drove home from work that night, although she always dreaded working the late shift at the clothing store; her mood was attributed to the fact that Troy never answered her text back from earlier in the day. She felt the familiar tingling in her nose that alerted her tears were coming, and quickly turned up the radio so she couldn't hear her own sobs only to find what was playing would hurt even worse.

"_The broken clock is a comfort, it helps me sleep tonight, maybe it can stop tomorrow from stealing all my time. I am here still waiting though I still have my doubts, I am damaged at best, like you've already figured out…"_

Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella one more time sweetly on the lips before watching her walk in through the grand white door, and then happily walked down to his Jeep parked in the driveway. His smile could be seen from miles around, as he was starting to realize that the brown eyed girl he had just spent the night with was making her way to his heart. He turned the key in the ignition and popped in an unnamed CD that he found in his dashboard awhile ago, and slowly backed up until he was driving down the quiet lane away from Gabriella's cul-de-sac.

Troy switched through the first couple songs until a guitar melody caught his attention. It was then that he realized for the first time in four months, he had not thought of Kaci once that day. A cold feeling ran through his body and he forced himself to pull over and the upcoming stop sign, unsure of what his emotions would do. He parked on the side of the street, with his white knuckles griping the steering wheel, as he stared straight ahead and absorbed the song drifting through the speakers.

"_I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing… with a broken heart that's still beating.  
In the pain there is healing. In your name I find meaning. So I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on, I'm barely holdin' on to you…"_

Kaci pulled into her driveway and parked her white Jetta safely next to the basketball hoop, the one that her parents had put in specifically for Troy since he practically lived at her house. She ran through the door and up the stairs directly to her room, ignoring her parents and brother, only caring about the steady stream of tears flowing down her face. She tore through her closet until she found two large Rubbermaid containers and let her pent up frustration and anger release through her movements.

The song in her head switched from the Lifehouse ballad she had heard in the car, to the sound of breaking glass and broken memories as she violently through every memory of Troy her large room contained. Picture frames, dried bouquets of flowers, a yarn bracelet from 6th grade he made her at sleep-a-way camp, tickets from the John Mayer concert they went to together- everything that contained a trace of him was now banished into the box in a heap of forgotten sentiments. When she was sure that her room was now void of any memories of Troy Bolton and what was their relationship, she slipped into one of her father's undershirts to wear to bed (no longer would she be wearing his practice jersey to sleep), buried herself in a mess of pillows and blankets, and slowly cried herself into a restless slumber.

"_The broken locks were a warning you got inside my head. I tried my best to be guarded, I'm an open book instead. I still see your reflection inside of my eyes  
That are looking for a purpose, they're still looking for life…"_

Troy pressed repeat for the 22nd time in a row on his CD player, not noticing that the clock on his dashboard now read 2:30 a.m. He had ignored endless phone calls reading "**HOME**" on his caller ID, and continued to sit still in his front seat staring out at the vast road before him. He was a terrible person, he kept telling himself. How could he forget to think about her?

Although his mind told him he was not doing anything morally wrong, his heart told him differently. As he sat in the car that contained so many memories of his life in California, and the girl he missed and loved, his brain went into overdrive overanalyzing every part of his night with Gabriella, comparing and contrasting their every conversation and mannerisms with those of his and Kaci's.

His phone vibrated in his pocket again, and instead of pressing the ignore button as he had been doing for the last hour, he pulled it out to find that he had a new text message. He felt his heart rise up into his throat, could it be Kaci? Did she feel his pain from that many miles away? He let his breath out when he read the waiting text message from Gabriella.

"_**I hope this doesn't wake you up, but I had a lot of fun with you tonight : ). See you tomorrow? xo Gabi."**_

As he realized how he had spent his last two hours, he slowly put the car in drive, and peeled off into the night, switching the song on the CD to his favorite rap song. He rolled down all of the windows to let the fresh breeze wake him up, and dry his tears away. As he took the necessary turns to get him home, he typed a message back to Gabriella, vowing to move on and create a new life, and new relationship, for himself in New Mexico.

"_**Me too : ) I'll pick you up tomorrow for lunch at Ruby's? Be ready by 12 babe. Sweet dreams : )"**_

__

"I'm hangin' on another day, just to see what you will throw my way. And I'm hangin' on to the words you say, you said that I will be okay…"

**Author's Note- **WOW! It's been a while since I've updated; I wasn't sure if people liked the story and I have been SO busy at college. Please review & let me know your thoughts : ) have a great Thursday! xoxo


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